Sharp FQ8 vs Hisense E7Q PRO / E79Q PRO

The Sharp FQ8 achieves a maximum brightness of over 450 nits, which is commendable for its price range. While this level might not be groundbreaking, it places the television among the better-performing models in its class. At this brightness, the image appears vivid and detailed, and the HDR metadata functions effectively, offering a more immersive viewing experience compared to dimmer devices.

The television supports the advanced Dolby Vision HDR format, enhancing the depth and richness of the content. It also includes Dolby Vision IQ, which adjusts the image's brightness and colours based on ambient lighting. However, the implementation of this feature on the Sharp FQ8 is suboptimal, introducing artificial brightening and noticeable distortions. For this reason, it is advisable to disable Dolby Vision IQ for the most accurate picture quality.

With quantum dot technology, the television achieves a colour gamut coverage of approximately 94%, resulting in vibrant and realistic colours. This combination of features ensures the Sharp FQ8 delivers an engaging and detailed visual experience, even with some limitations.

When it comes to HDR effect quality, the E7Q PRO unfortunately is not a television that impresses with brightness alone. In real film materials, we measured around 250–300 nits, which is simply not enough for HDR to look spectacular. There's a lack of that "spark" in bright details, flashes, and light effects, and in many HDR scenes, it can resemble more of a good SDR than true cinematic HDR. The silver lining in all this is the colours. We managed to confirm that the E7Q PRO is a PFS type television, which means it has an additional filter that improves colour gamut coverage. Because of this, even if the brightness doesn't deliver, the colours in HDR content can be properly saturated and pleasing to the eye, without the impression of a "washed-out" image.

The Sharp FQ8 was evaluated for colour reproduction in its movie mode, which provides the best default settings for achieving realistic visuals. While it performs adequately, certain issues impact the overall image quality. Tests on HD content revealed significant white balance problems, with a marked dominance of red. This is evident in the colour graph, where the red line noticeably rises above the others, and in practical tests, such as a movie scene featuring a child, where the image appears overly warm and unnaturally red. Similar issues persist with 4K HDR content, where an excessive red tint detracts from the accuracy of colour reproduction, an important consideration for viewers prioritising faithful visuals.

For SDR contrast, the gamma graph displayed an unusual anomaly at the start, highlighting reproduction issues. The remainder of the gamma curve lies below the reference line, indicating suboptimal brightness and contrast levels for standard content. In 4K HDR, the EOTF curve also deviates significantly, suggesting inconsistencies in brightness reproduction. These fluctuations can result in less enjoyable viewing experiences for HDR content, particularly in scenes requiring precise light and dark balance.

In terms of colour reproduction, we tested the Hisense E7Q Pro in Movie mode, which undoubtedly turned out to be the best built-in preset. It is this mode, unlike the Eco, Standard, or Dynamic settings, that offers the most natural colours straight out of the box. While no factory mode is completely free of flaws, the E7Q Pro deserves high praise for its colour rendition in standard SDR content. The colour palette has been very well tuned, and errors in the Color Checker tests often did not exceed a value of 3, which is an outstanding result rarely seen in such affordable TVs. The only drawback we noted in SDR is the tendency to darken certain elements of the image, as indicated by a slightly raised gamma curve. The TV performs slightly worse with colours in HDR mode. Here, colour errors become noticeable to the naked eye, mainly due to a deficiency of blue in the white balance. This causes the colours on screen to appear too warm, and for some viewers, they may seem almost "too cinematic." Of course, to improve these parameters, we proceeded with professional calibration.

After calibration, the Sharp FQ8 shows notable improvements in its performance for SDR content. The white balance has been significantly refined, with all lines approaching the reference line. While the lines are not perfectly straight, the results are impressive for a TV in this price range. This adjustment enhances the naturalness and accuracy of colours, contributing to a more enjoyable visual experience. However, the gamma chart still displays the peculiar jump at the start, though the remaining line now aligns much closer to the expected outcome.

For HDR content, the white balance also sees meaningful improvements compared to the pre-calibration state, although it doesn’t perform as well as in SDR mode. This refinement results in more consistent and visually appealing colours, despite some remaining imperfections. On the downside, the EOTF chart reveals limited progress in contrast due to the lack of control over dynamic tone mapping settings, which hampers uniform brightness representation in HDR.

Despite these limitations, the calibration significantly elevates the Sharp FQ8, particularly in SDR mode. The improved white balance and colour reproduction deliver a more natural and pleasant viewing experience. While HDR content still leaves room for improvement, the TV achieves a respectable level of performance, solidifying its position as a strong contender in its price range.

In the case of materials with standard dynamic range (SDR), our actions in Filmmaker mode turned out to be largely cosmetic 😉. We mainly focused on a subtle adjustment of the white balance and equalising the gamma curve, which allowed us to recover details in the darker areas of the image that previously tended to get lost. However, it's worth noting that the E7Q Pro unit we tested happened to be exceptionally well-made from the factory. We remind you that these parameters depend on the specific unit – with mass production, factory calibration can be random, so your unit may require slightly different adjustments. The biggest beneficiary of professional calibration was undoubtedly HDR mode. This is where we did the most work, which brought spectacular results. We successfully tamed the excessive warmth of the image, caused by a factory shortfall in blue colour. After calibration, colour errors were reduced to a significantly lower level, which will certainly please those watching a lot of streaming content in HDR format, expecting faithful reproduction.

The Sharp FQ8 performs adequately with its 10-bit colour reproduction feature, providing smooth transitions between grey shades in the light bulb photo. For optimal results, setting it to medium is recommended, as it avoids issues like grain smoothing or blurring key elements. The "low" setting also yields good results without introducing unwanted visual artefacts.

In terms of upscaling, the Sharp FQ8 TV handles video without overscan, making full use of the screen. The jagged edges of branches are noticeable, but the edges of trousers appear without any clear jaggedness, contributing positively to the overall image quality. Additionally, the TV's AI Super Resolution feature enhances clarity by artificially sharpening jagged elements, further improving the viewing experience.

When it comes to upscaling and digital image processing, the E7Q PRO deserves praise. The scaling performs really well here and doesn't fall dramatically short of much more expensive, advanced TVs. Lower quality materials can look clear and reasonable, without the impression that the image is artificially "overdrawn." The smoothing function, however, presents a bit worse. Yes, it can be effective and improve tonal transitions in low-quality materials, but at the same time, it can introduce unwanted effects. Sometimes it removes film grain or adds unwanted artifacts, giving the image a more "digital" character. Therefore, we mainly recommend it to those who prefer a smoother, less cinematic image style.

The Sharp FQ8 features a 120 Hz panel, able to support playback at 144 Hz when connected to a PC, which should theoretically provide smooth motion rendering. The TV includes features designed to enhance film fluidity and reduce motion blur, crucial for more dynamic content. However, in the absence of Black Frame Insertion (BFI) technology, the panel's average response time leads to less-than-ideal results. This results in slight motion blur, which may be particularly noticeable when watching sports or during intense gaming sessions.

In the category of motion blur and fluidity, the E7Q PRO has one very strong argument. At this price, Hisense has added a 120 Hz panel, and in PC mode, it can even operate at 144 Hz. This immediately provides greater possibilities in motion settings, as more options for smoothing the image appear in the menu. Among other things, we have frame interpolation options, allowing us to adjust the fluidity for sports or movies, depending on whether we prefer a more cinematic character or a "theatrical" smoothness.

The Sharp FQ8 offers several features that cater to gamers, enhancing the overall gaming experience. Firstly, the television is equipped with HDMI 2.1, which brings several advantages. ALLM (Auto Low Latency Mode) automatically switches the TV to a low-latency mode when a gaming device is detected. VRR (Variable Refresh Rate) helps reduce screen stuttering by adjusting the screen’s refresh rate to match the number of frames generated by the console or PC, providing smoother gameplay, especially in dynamic games. Additionally, the TV supports G-Sync, which synchronises the image with the graphics card, preventing stuttering and screen tearing.

Despite these advantages, the FQ8 has some limitations. The lack of support for HGiG (HDR Gaming Interest Group) means the TV does not optimise the dynamic range for HDR games. Furthermore, while Dolby Vision mode can improve picture quality in supported games, it suffers from very high input lag.

E7Q PRO is a phenomenal screen for gamers. Besides the typical "issue" with Hisense, which is the lack of support for the HGiG format due to constantly active tone mapping, we get practically everything one could expect from a TV that is supposed to have a gaming tag. There are two HDMI 2.1 ports, along with a full set of key features. We have variable refresh rate, automatic switching to game mode, and support for 4K at 120 Hz. On top of that, all the important settings are at hand in the clear Game Bar. This tool not only looks modern, but it also has a typically "gaming" edge and actually makes life easier while gaming.